Ferneman, Klara

Abstract [en]

Svensk titel:Mångfald i biblioteksbestånd: en undersökning av biografieroch mediestrategiskt arbete på ett folkbibliotek English title:Diversity in library collections: a study about biographiesand library collection development in a public libraryFörfattare/Author:Klara Ferneman Handledare/Supervisor:Per WisselgrenSammanfattning/Abstract: This paper explores the diversity of the biography section in a swedishpublic library. It examines representation from different parts of the world, and also if there are patterns in what subjects certain parts of the world are represented by. The role of diversity in library collections is drawn from the concepts of cultural competence and social justice. The results are discussed in comparison with the collection development plan.The methods used are both quantitative and qualitative content analyses. The collection of biographies is examined and categorized by which part of the world the subject was linked to according to the library catalogue. The study also includes interviews with the librarians to associate the results with the practice of collection development at the library in question.The findings show that the collection have an overrepresentation of biographies with European subjects and that the books from parts outside the so-called western world only included a limited kind of subjects, like terrorism and war. The interviews show the librarians experienced that they had limited ability to work with diversity, mainly because the policy documents are lacking clear incentive to focus on making the collections more diverse and also because the economic framework won’t allow it.